Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“I see you’ve still been working in the yard,” I said, trying to keep my eyes from misting at the sight of her. “I forget how much I missed seeing that. Our yard at college barely has grass, and at our place in Vegas, it’s all concrete and glass.”
“Well, we do have the Grotto,” Kage pointed out.
“That’s true. You know, it sort of reminds me of the gazebo in our backyard.” I looked at Mom and Dad. “You guys are still decorating the gazebo, right?”
“Of course,” Mom said. “Come look. It’s even nicer this year.”
The four of us walked around the house to the backyard, admiring my mom’s flower beds on the way. I could tell already she had been hard at work.
“This is beautiful, Mrs. Atwood,” Kage said when we came around the corner and passed through the wrought iron archway we’d gotten when I was in high school.
“Thank you,” she said, beaming with pride as we admired her handiwork.
White Christmas lights were strung all along the gazebo, and the gardens were fuller and more beautiful than I ever remembered seeing them. Flowers surrounded the gazebo and ran along both sides of the walkway. Small beds jutted out from the foundation of the house. They had added a little wrought iron bench, and a stone fountain with a cherub spitting a stream of water into a round basin.
“It looks gorgeous out here, Mom.” I wrapped my arms around her from behind and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “And you’re still as short as ever.”
She laughed and slapped me on the arm. “I guess I’ve tried to concentrate more on the yard this year. Everything has a tendency to get to me, and it helps to have that outlet.”
My father chuckled beside us. “You have no idea how much money we’ve spent on it this year. But I think it’s paid off. And what else would we do with the money now that you kids are pretty much out of the house?”
“Um… Buy me a new car,” I teased.
“I can get you a car,” Kage said, and my parents and I all whipped our heads around so hard I’m surprised we didn’t get whiplash. My parents were shocked, but I was mortified. In my mind, what Kage had just said is, “I’m fucking your son.”
My mom actually giggled like a little girl. “Wow, Jamie must be doing a great job.”
Kage didn’t even blink. “He is, Mrs. Atwood. You should be very proud. The stipend we pay him isn’t nearly what he’s worth. I guarantee you when he graduates from college, he’ll be pulling down high six figures easily.”
“Really?” My dad said, seemingly more impressed with me than he’d ever been.
“Yes, sir,” Kage said. “Especially with my reference. I haven’t told Jamie this yet, but I got some really good news this morning. Thanks in part to his efforts, I just got picked up for a fight in the UFC. It’s my shot at a contract. So if Jamie needs a car, I’ll get him a car.” He winked at me. “Think of it as a bonus.”
I couldn’t believe it. I opened my mouth and just started yelling. “Oh my God! Kage, that is so fucking awesome!”
My mom gasped at my language, and my father scowled, but I was so stoked I didn’t care. I threw my arms around Kage’s neck and gave him the hardest hug I could. He squeezed me back and laughed. I’d never seen him quite so happy. I think in that moment every bit of the darkness was gone from his eyes, and all I saw there was sheer joy.
I backed away from him, and my mind started whirling with thoughts.
“When do you fight? Oh my gosh, can I be in your corner? Can I walk out behind you when you do your entrance? Crap. We have to come up with a walk out song for you. Something to do with fighting, or winning, or hardcore. Yeah, something really hard. Are we gonna wear hoodies when we walk out? I always thought that looked cool. We at least need matching t-shirts. They can say, The Machine. Or just KAGE. Or Welcome to the Machine.”
He smiled and looked at me in that special way of his that made my knees weak. “You’re babbling again.”
“Am I?” All I knew is that I was grinning from ear to ear, and I’d never been so excited in my whole damn life. I wanted to hug him again. Hell, I wanted to kiss him, but for obvious reasons that was impossible.
My parents were just staring at us with bewildered expressions on their faces.
“That’s great news, boys,” my mom said. “Just great. This is what you’ve been shooting for, right?”
“Yes,” we both said in unison.
“Well, congratulations,” Dad said. “We’ll have to celebrate with a shot of the hard stuff after dinner.”